No Take Backs
by nicnac918
Summary: Clark wants to talk to Lex about his conviction that the two of them have to be enemies, but Lex isn't budging. For, when it comes to superheroes and arch-nemeses, there are no backsies.


A/N:The inspiration for this fic came from a line (and a subsequent conversation I had with the author about said line) in Josephina_X's story What Does Not Kill You... (which can be found at josephina-x (dot) livejournal (dot) com/16582 (dot) html). I definitely recommend you check it and her other stories out, they're all pretty awesome.

Also, since I wasn't able to fit it in the story, the reason Lex has his memories in this fic, despite Tess's actions, is that, in true Lexian fashion, when he was having his new body made he had it modified so it was immune to as many poisons, diseases, neurotoxins, etc. as possible, including the one Tess used on him. Lex is just crazy prepared like that.

* * *

It had been a week since Clark had saved the world from Darkseid, and he really needed to talk to Lex.

He hadn't seen the other man since their conversation in the ruins of the castle. Clark had been a little distracted at the time, what with the planet about to crash into Earth, but in retrospect the whole conversation seemed to be Lex saying that he was going to be evil now, because that was his only way of being involved in Clark's life. Which was kind of stupid and really sad. If Lex wanted to spend time with Clark that badly, they really should just be friends again.

Lois was against this plan because a) Lex was evil, to which Clark responded that Tess had been evil and they let her join their team, and b) thanks for mentioning Tess, you know our friend that Lex killed last week? And Clark really did like Tess and was, generally speaking, against anything that resulted in her dying, but when it came to Lex she was… a bit irrational. Or, to be straight-forward about it, freaking insane.

First of all, there was the video note she had left them before she died, where she claimed she was going to the Luthor Corp building to erase Lex's memories. All of them. That wasn't really sane behavior, not to mention, given things that had happened to Lex in the past, incredibly cruel. Clark was just glad that her plan hadn't appeared to work. Then there was the fact that when he and Conner had been clearing out Tess's place – she had left all her personal possessions to the two of them – they had found a case with a bottle of cyanide and a bent needle. They were both trying very hard not to think about it, but there were really only so many people that could bend a needle like that. And since Tess had thought _Clark_ was an alien Jesus… So, while it was possible that Lex was, as Lois claimed, lying about Tess's death being in self-defense, it was at least equally as likely that he wasn't. And that was good enough for Clark.

There was just the question of how Clark was going to open the conversation. Since they were, according to Lex, enemies right now, Clark very much doubted security would let him up into Lex's office. He could use his powers to burst right past security, but that might be a bit nostalgic in a bad way. Finally, Clark decided the best way to go about it would be to fly up to his office window and ask to be let in through there. It wasn't something he had ever done before, so no bad memories, and the fact that he was obviously using his powers seemed like a good way to declare his intention to be honest from now on.

Clark pulled on the Superman suit, which seemed like not the best idea, but he didn't have much choice if he was going to be flying, and headed over to Lex's office. After confirming that the only person inside was Lex, working on his computer, Clark tapped gently on the window. Lex turned around and visibly sighed before pulling a remote out of the drawer and pressing a button that opened the window. Clark glided in and landed softly on the carpet.

"Hello Clark," Lex said, sounding resigned. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Hey Lex," Clark greeted, feeling infinitely more nervous about the whole situation now that he was actually here. "Um… so about that whole nemesis thing –"

"No take backs Clark."

"What?" Clark asked, startled. "But I didn't –"

"Oh I'm sorry," Lex interrupted smoothly, _again_. "I didn't let you finish. What were you going to say?"

"I think the whole us being nemeses thing is a bad idea and I want to be friends again?" Clark offered tentatively.

There was an infinitesimal pause, as though Lex was making sure that Clark really was finished, before he repeated, "No take backs Clark." Then he turned back to his computer with apparently every intention of ignoring Clark.

Clark, however, was not going to let that stand. "Why not?" he demanded sharply.

Lex looked back up and heaved a huge sigh that was a bit melodramatic even by Clark's standards. "You aren't leaving anytime soon are you?"

"We need to talk about this," Clark confirmed.

Lex got up and walked over to the minibar. "Can I offer you a drink?" he asked while pouring a sizable glass of Scotch for himself.

Clark glared at him. "Lex, this villain thing is just stupid –"

"I'll take that as a 'no' then," Lex muttered, but this time Clark continued to talk right over him.

"– You don't have to be evil, we both know you know better."

"You'll find that people rarely _have_ to do anything, they _choose_ to do so," Lex said, swirling his glass and looking annoyingly sophisticated.

"Then I don't understand why you would _choose_ to be evil," Clark responded.

"And I don't understand why you would choose to slap on some spandex and save kittens from trees." Lex retorted, completely unfairly. Clark's costume was made from milliskin. "The point is I've made my choice and even if you don't understand it, you need to respect it."

"But you're choosing to be _evil_," Clark said, not really sure how Lex was failing to grasp that point. "It's completely different."

"It's always different for you Clark," Lex replied snidely, and Clark was getting really tired of his sarcastic one-liners. It's like Lex didn't even want to be friends again. Which, he didn't, but still! "At any rate, I'm not asking you to condone my decisions, just respect my right to make them."

"But what if you're making the wrong decision?" Clark protested.

"It's still my decision to make. So unless you've decided to become an Alien Overlord who suppresses free will, I suggest you let me make it."

"Look Lex," Clark said, trying a different tact. "I know you think you have to do this, or not _have_ to, but… anyways, a lot of that is probably my fault. I wasn't a very good friend, I didn't trust you and I lied a lot, and I'm sorry. But don't let that make you feel like this whole nemesis thing is your best or only option. I know there's still good in you, don't force yourself to repress it out of spite."

Unfortunately this speech didn't seem to make Lex warm up to the idea. If anything, he looked even angrier. "And there's evil in you that you're suppressing out of guilt," Lex threw back, and after the stuff Clark had done on Red K, he couldn't exactly argue with him. "Don't make this all about you, Clark. I have my own reasons for what I'm doing."

"Fine Lex," Clark said crossing his arms – which, side note, was a totally awesome gesture that he'd have to incorporate into Superman's repertoire. "What are your reasons?"

"I already discussed those with you," Lex answered simply.

"What, last week?" Clark asked. "The world was ending! I was kind of distracted at the time."

"Be that as it may, if you weren't going to be able to fully participate in the discussion at the time, you should have said something and we could have tabled it for later. At this point I've already said everything I want to say, and I'm not going to repeat myself just to satisfy your curiosity."

"But that's... just dumb," Clark said, words escaping him in his frustration. This whole thing is like arguing with a brick wall. A brick wall that was a lot smarter than Clark.

"If you aren't going to be civil, I'm going to ask you to leave," Lex informed him.

"I'm not going anywhere until we work this out," Clark retorted.

"Alright," Lex said suspiciously amiable. "You have one minute before I test out my new Kryptonite laser on you then."

"Kryptonite _laser_?" Clark sputtered.

"Mmm, yes," said Lex, smirking slightly. "It's just a prototype, but I'm sure a field test will do wonders to push forward development. Fifty seconds left, by the way."

"Okay, I'll leave!" Clark exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "But this isn't over yet."

One last dramatic sigh from Lex. "I'm sure it isn't." Then, with a show of looking at his watch, "Forty-five seconds."

"I'm going, I'm going!"

Clark lifted up and flew out the window, hearing it shut behind him. This is probably what he got for going in without a plan. It was just a good thing that Chloe was still in Gotham dealing with that (incredibly scary, vaguely creepy, yet strangely awesome) Batman guy; she was always getting on his case for running into situations half-cocked and plan-less.

But Clark wasn't giving up! He'd think over what happened today, figure out where he went wrong, and then come up with an even better plan for next time. And as he turned his failure over in his head he definitely wasn't pouting. Not at all.

…Maybe a little bit.

* * *

A/N: For the curious, milliskin is a type of fabric used mainly to make tights and leotards. It was also used to make the Superman suit used in both Superman Returns and Smallville. (That's right folks, I did my research).


End file.
